Watch & Listen

the Love Language

Friends and fans of The Love Language songwriter and frontman Stuart McLamb have learned to expect a lot, but rarely in a timely manner. Completing a triumvirate of spiritual transmissions spent lost (2009's The Love Language) and found (2010's Libraries), 2013's Ruby Red exorcises the transient brilliance fostered by McLamb within the sheetrock walls of the album's namesake artist space.

Featuring over twenty musicians and straddling several time zones, The Love Language's lone puppeteer borrowed heavier equipment, and held on to it longer. Initiated in a windowless unit at the fabled Ruby Red, several failed attempts and false starts at a songwriting spree landed McLamb and his engineer/case worker/boxing coach BJ Burton in Black Mountain, North Carolina, consuming every square inch of a carpeted bungalow located a few acres too close to their skittish neighbors. Soon after, Burton's relocation to Minneapolis effectively thrust McLamb from their shared nest, helping Ruby Red discover its inherent propensity for flight.

Ruby Red produces new standards for the Carolina pop songbook, finding The Love Language as an extroverted community art project made by responsible citizens of a loosely packed scene who know that McLamb will match whatever they contribute. The heartbreak is over. Now we're getting somewhere.

Schwervon!

Schwervon! is a two piece rock band. Nan plays drums. Matt plays guitar. They both sing. They lived in NYC for 15+ years and have recently relocated to Kansas City, Kansas with their cat Gummo. While living in Manhattan, they recorded and mixed the bulk of their music in their apartment as well as curating a DIY music hub called Olive Juice Music, which centered around their own local and online community. Their latest album is entitled Courage. It was recorded in Memphis, Tennessee with Doug Easley (Cat Power, Pavement, Breeders).

The Empty Spaces

Formed from a studio band that recorded Mat Shoare’s solo album by the same name The Empty Spaces have been interpreting Shoare’s song writing since early 2010. Eventually the three piece began to collaborate more with song arrangements and stylist choices yielding a kind of “retro-punk rock” that is fronted with an energetic, yelping vocal style.

The freshman EP “Low Noise” is now available on Golden Sound Records and highlights the band’s energy and power with live takes of four songs.